Roddick, Hewitt, Safin Start Sharp at ATP Masters Cup

Lleyton Hewitt won a tough first round match over Carlos Moya at the Tennis Masters Cup Tuesday. (ATP)

No. 2 seed Andy Roddick opened with a win Tuesday at the Masters Cup, turning around a two-match losing streak against Tim Henman in edging the Brit 7-5, 7-6(6), coming back from 2-5 down in the second-set tiebreak.

"I don't feel like I served that well," said Roddick, who made a concerted effort to take the net away from Henman. "I don't feel like I hit my forehand that well. I felt like I moved great and volleyed great, so especially an atypical match for me. But I felt like I competed well. I felt really fresh out there."

Roddick, last year's No. 1-ranked finisher, is in a tight race for the year-end No. 2 ranking this year with Lleyton Hewitt, who kept himself in good stead in the opposite round robin group. The tenacious Aussie came back from a set down Tuesday to defeat Carlos Moya 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4 in his opener in Houston.

Hewitt screamed himself into contention after dropping the opening set, throwing down 15 aces over three sets against the rusty Spaniard. Moya, coming off a shoulder injury that limited his play during the European indoor season, says the wing feels good but now he needs to get match-tough.

"I'm playing well, like I did the first half of the year," Moya said. "I need to play more than one match, play some good matches to believe in myself like I did at the start of the year."

Marat Safin also made a 1-0 start Tuesday, rolling past Argentine Guillermo Coria and his surgically-repaired shoulder 6-1, 6-4.

"He couldn't really serve hard. He wasn't at his best," Safin said. "This kind of serve, it's difficult to achieve anything here. Maybe he has no confidence and is a little bit scared of his injury."

Coria, who had not played a match since losing first round at the Masters Series-Canada in July, said the shoulder feels fine but and now the problem is mental.

"I didn't play well the first set. I was a little bit scared of my arm," Coria said. "That didn't allow me to be as focused as I should have been. I loosened up in the second set. I didn't feel anything bad with my arm."

Scheduled for Wednesday are Moya vs. Gaudio in a meeting of French Open winners (career series tied 2-2), and Federer vs. Hewitt (Hewitt leads 7-6, but Fed has won the last four).